Seasons of Reflection

As a child I didn't pay close attention to dates and times. I remember using the change of seasons to gauge my world. We had mud season (AKA Spring), school's out season (AKA Summer), leaf peepin' season (AKA Fall) and blustery, snowy season (AKA Winter). Personally, my favorites have always been Summer and Winter.

In the Summer we would wake up in the morning by the sun's light, put on clothes and gather up the neighborhood kids. We would play outdoors until we got hungry for lunch, an indicator that half the day was over. After lunch, we'd be right back out to play until we saw our Ford Escort station wagon come into view. This was an indication that we had approximately an hour left to play until dinner and even though we had this indication, our mother still had to call out our names for 5 or 10 minutes before we'd get our "butts in the house for dinner"! Once we did get home it was always "after dinner can we go back out to play?" Sometimes it was allowed and other times it wasn't and it just "wasn't fair"!
As the months passed and the temperature dropped and we finished the big family gathering for Turkey, the next exciting ritual that took place each year was preparing for Christmas. We'd pick out the tree and decorate it, an indication that December had arrived. We'd be allowed to stay up later than our usual bedtime whenever Christmas shows were on television. Then there would be the Christmas music which indicated it was almost time for making cookies! Mom would put in the same CD each year and roll out the wax paper, then the dough. We'd use cookie cutters to make trees, gingerbread men, wreaths and stars. After they were baked, we'd decorate them with icing and confetti and sprinkles. It was always a big mess when we were finished, but that was half the fun! Then came the BIG day...the day when all our childhood fantasies came true! This was probably the only day of the whole year when I actually looked at a clock, every hour on the hour until the sun came up! It was such an exciting time. I don't remember much about the toys I received, but I remember emotions. It was happiness and smiles, love and laughter. It sounds cliche, but it's absolutely true. No one bickered or got angry. Everyone was happy and proud to be giving and receiving and nothing else mattered.

As an adult I live by the rule of my date book and have become completely dependent on the clock, but I cherish the few moments when I'm transported back to the long days of summer and when I get a glimpse of the memories made on those cold, dark winter nights.